PREFACE xi 



neglected; and, although I soon discovered that the labor in- 

 volved would be far greater than I had anticipated, I never lost 

 sight of the work which had its virtual inception in the peerless 

 sanctuary of Pallas Athena in the "City of the Violet Crown." 



Duties and occupations innumerable have retarded the prog- 

 ress of the work. But not the least cause of delay has been the 

 difficulty of locating the material essential to the production of 

 a volume that would do even partial justice to the numerous 

 topics requiring treatment. My experience, parva componere 

 magnis, was not unlike that of Dr. Johnson, who tells us in the 

 preface to his Dictionary of the English Language, "I saw that 

 one inquiry only gave occasion to another, that book referred to 

 book, that to search was not always to find, and that thus to 

 pursue perfection was, like the first inhabitants of Arcadia, to 

 chase the sun, which, when they reached the hill where he 

 seemed to rest, was still beheld at the same distance from them." 



Although I have endeavored to give a place in this work to 

 all women who have achieved special distinction in science, it is 

 not unlikely that I may have inadvertently overlooked some, 

 particularly among those of recent years, who were deserving of 

 mention. Should this be the case, I shall be grateful for in- 

 formation which will enable me to correct such oversights and 

 render the volume, should there be a demand for more than one 

 edition, more complete and serviceable. And, although I have 

 striven to be as accurate as possible in all my statements, I can 

 scarcely hope, in traversing so broad a field, to have been wholly 

 successful. For all shortcomings, whether through omission or 

 commission, 



"Quas aut incuria fudit, 

 Aut humana parum cavit natura," 



I crave the reader's indulgence, and trust that the present vol- 

 ume will have at least the merit of stimulating some ambitious 

 young Whewell to explore more thoroughly the interesting field 

 that I have but partially reconnoitred, and give us ere long an 

 adequate and comprehensive history of the achievements of 

 woman, not only in the inductive but in all the sciences. 



